the blade to my throat again.
“We are here a lot.” I grin. “Do I have to knock you out again?”
“You got the drop on me once, it won’t happen again.” That’s when I see it, the fear in her eyes. Fear I will hurt her, kill her while she’s shifting or after she’s shifted. I want to snarl, to tear and rip through the world to take out whoever hurt her. But I can’t. My mate is a fierce hunter, and I need to be careful not to piss her off. No, I have to go slow. One step at a time.
“I will not hurt you, Remi. You need to change before this gets any worse or infected. Please.” The last word is foreign on my tongue. I have never pleaded before, but I will now.
She needs to change, to heal, and I can’t stand her pain.
I see the hesitation in her eyes. She knows she needs to, but she’s still worried. Worried about me hurting her…and something else. Judging her maybe? “I will not think any less of you or any differently.”
“Don’t think of me at all,” she mutters. “Not until my blade is in your heart.”
I smirk at the banter between us, but pain laces her tone now, and she’s pale and losing too much blood. “Remi, shift now,” I order.
She chafes at the command, and I get in her face, wrapping my hand around her throat to anchor her, letting her feel my strength and determination. I see it in the flicker of her mismatched eyes then—lust, but also a flicker of fear. Fear at what she can feel flowing between us. That she’s letting me so close but doesn’t understand why. I do, but I won’t tell her.
My gaze falls to her lips, unable to help it, and I lean down and run mine across hers, drawn by a compulsion bigger than me. “Now,” I whisper against her mouth.
Our eyes meet, and the fact that we are enemies fades away. The fact that we should hate each other, kill each other, leaves us. All that’s left is vulnerability, and on my part, my deep-seated love and protectiveness for my mate.
“Change,” I demand again. “I won’t hurt you, I promise. I will protect you while you heal.”
I stand up, release her, and step away until my back meets the wall so she can keep me in her line of sight as she changes. I have always wanted to see my mate’s wolf. I bet she’s as beautiful as her human counterpart. Graceful, perfect, and so strong. I ache to touch her, to watch her hunt and run.
I long for all the years I’ve lost with this incredible creature before me, but even now, if I could get her away from me, I would. If I could walk away knowing she was safe, I would. To protect her…and me.
She’ll try to kill me, I know that, I see it in her eyes. She has to.
And I cannot let my mate become nothing but another weapon for the council. If it comes to it, I’ll kill her too.
We are enemies. Yet fated.
It’s confusing to say the least. I still want her, the ever-present desire so strong, it almost takes my breath away. My hands ache to hold her, to trace her curves, to feel her slick pussy again. My cock is hard, even though she’s injured. Her blood and pain call to that dark part of me that wants to revel in it.
My soul calls out to her.
Yet my brain knows this can’t be.
I left once to protect her, and if I leave again…one of us won’t be alive to see it.
Yet I can’t bring myself to even speak of what’s to come or to do what I know I have to. Because she’s here, she’s right in front of me. Everything I have always wanted, everything I fought and killed for. Could I so easily end that?
Could she?
I don’t know anymore. I really don’t. Everything is so twisted. Finding your mate is supposed to be a happy time, the best of your life. Yet she doesn’t even know who or what I am. Just my name, and I have the truth burning a hole in me.
When the truth comes to light, what will be left in the aftermath?
She hesitates for a moment longer before closing her eyes, dropping the sword, and letting the change sweep through her. It’s only a few seconds of pure light. I hear bones